never ever go away
by Val-Creative
Summary: Beverly Marsh's and Ben Hanscom's first dance at their wedding. (Post-IT 2019.)


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Beverly's first wedding never happened. She picked out the low-cut dress, venue, caterers, florists, and the expensive, three-layered cake made of white chocolate fondant and vanilla only for Tom to rage about it all being wrong. Wrong, wrong, _wrong_.

(It had been _wrong_, yes. Beverly was marrying _the wrong man_ for her.)

This time, she has an outdoor reception with white fairy-lights twinkling in the treetops above. A guest book stuffed to the brim with Polaroid photos (mainly of the Losers, but especially of Richie's horrendous, jokey faces.) Pink roses surrounded by foliage and baby's breath. Opened candy jars of pink and white and cream colors. A whole dessert table of blueberry and raspberry and orange and lemon tarts. Chocolate dipped and gold-flaked strawberries on a tiered, gilded tray. The guest-table brimming with tiny, potted succulents for guests on their way home with a fancy-scrawled note: "_Take Love And Make It Grow_".

It's lovely. All of it. She's more drawn to Ben lingering by the wedding memorial behind the silken, white curtains. The skies nearly darkened.

Beverly carries two white candles brightly lit, resting them down in front of two photos. Her eyes moistening noticeably. She grasps onto Ben's hand while he hiccup-sobs, wiping off his face roughly with the heel of his palm, breathing hard.

**THIS LIGHT BURNS IN HONOR OF THOSE WHO ARE WATCHING TODAY FROM HEAVEN**

"He would have liked you…" Ben whispers, staring down woeful at his father smiling close-lipped and dressed in his Air Force uniform. Beverly murmurs out to him comfortingly, picking off a flower-petal from his white tuxedo. "I know she did…"

The second photo haunts Beverly more than anything.

She only knew Ben's mother for a short time, but Beverly _adored_ her. A feisty and kindhearted woman. Mrs. Hanscom had been overjoyed to meet Beverly despite her failing health, hugging the living daylights out of her. She combed out Beverly's red hair all night and told Beverly how _beautiful_ she was. How _pure_ and _precious_ Beverly's soul was—even when Beverly never felt that way once in her life.

Mrs. Hanscom cooked for Beverly, gifted her new daughter-in-law with her grandmother's jewellery and trinkets and Ben's infant pictures. She kissed Beverly's cheek a few hours before passing away in her sleep and _begged_ her to take care of her little, sweet Benny. He's a good boy. _So good_.

Beverly never had a mother who cared about her. _Wanted_ her. And now she's gone forever.

"Hey, _you two_!" Eddie peers behind the curtains, rosy from the champagne and likely from fooling around with Richie, hissing out. He taps on his wristwatch impatiently. Beverly giggles, blotting the tear off her cheek. "Who are you hiding from? When's the first dance?"

Stanley, overhearing Eddie, rolls is eyes and tuts. He excuses himself out of the conversation with Patricia Uris, dragging the other man away.

It's a relief that all of the other Losers came together, not only to destroy IT in under an hour with the power of friendship and love and belief (_and a serious amount of chanting_) and burning IT out of existence—but also to her and Ben's wedding.

They head out to the dance-floor, standing in the grassy clearing.

Beverly prefers her white, silken pantsuit over a dress, feeling the weight of Ben's arm around her. Ben's right hand and Beverly's left grasped firmly. Her arm folded gently to Ben's shoulder. An instrumental song, composed of violins and a grand, white piano, floats into Beverly's song. She doesn't recognize it.

Ben hums along, deep in his chest.

"_Girl, you're my best friend_," he croak-sings, grinning right into Beverly's ear. "_Girl, you're my love within__…_" His fingertips sweep over the front-plait in Beverly's perfumed, red curls. _"I just want you to know_…"

Oh, no.

She giggles harder, thumping her forehead against Ben's shoulder.

_"That I will always love you…"_

Beverly and Ben throw their heads back, singing out the next lyrics in high, exaggerated voices. "_OOH, BABY_!" and listening the wedding guests applaud and stomp and laugh, collectively singing off-key to _Please Don't Go, Girl_ by New Kids On The Block.

Not everything is radiant and happy. Sad times will come.

Beverly knows she's ready for anything with him.

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_It (2019) isn't mine. Requested by notlikeshedid (AO3): "Ben and Beverly's first dance at their wedding. Like they're slow dancing to an instrumental of some New Kids or smth Ben is singing the lyrics in her ear and Bev is absolutely eating that shit up." That was a BRILLIANT prompt. Thank you. Any thoughts/comments welcomed!_


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